Maurice Barrymore
|
Maurice Barrymore as Mr. Weilding in 'Captain Swift', 1891 |
Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth (
September 21,
1849 in
Amritsar,
Punjab,
India -
March 26,
1905 in
Amityville,
New York) was the
patriarch of the
Barrymore acting family.
He was educated at
Harrow School,
England and studied Law at
Oxford University. On
March 21,
1872 he won the
middleweight boxing championship of
England. His father expected him to become a
barrister, but Herbert fell in with a group of actors, which scandalized the elder Blyth. In order to spare his father the "shame" of having a son in such a "dissolute" vocation, he took the stage name Maurice Barrymore, inspired by a conversation he had with fellow actor Charles Vandenhoff about William Barrymore, an early 19th-Century English thespian after seeing a poster depicting Barrymore in the
Haymarket Theatre. He wanted his first name to be pronounced in the French manner (môr-Ä'S) instead of the English (MÃ"R-is). His friends avoided that altogether by simply calling him "Barry". On
December 29,
1874 he boarded the SS America for
Boston, and joined
Augustin Daly's troupe making his debut in
Under the Gaslight.
He made his
Broadway debut in December 1875 in
Pique; in the cast was a young actress,
Georgiana Drew. They married on
December 31,
1876, and had three children:
Lionel,
Ethel, and
John. Exactly one year after her death from
consumption, he re-married.
On
March 19,
1879, in
Marshall, Texas, he and fellow actor Ben Porter were shot by
Texas and Pacific engineer Jim Currie (who shared a cell with the accused killer of
Diamond Bessie). Porter was killed; doctors spent the night operating on Barrymore to save his life. He made a full recovery, and returned to Marshall for the legal maneuverings that followed. Currie's brother was mayor of
Shreveport, Louisiana and apparently used his influence to secure a not guilty verdict (after a 10 minute deliberation). An enraged Barrymore vowed never to return to Texas. [
1]
He played opposite many other stars of the time including
Minnie Maddern Fiske and
Lillie Langtry. According to a 2004
A&E Biography piece, after the Ben Porter tragedy, Maurice asked Georgie to tour with him and
Helena Modjeska in a play he had written. Georgie and the children had converted to
Roman Catholicism under Helena's influence. Learning that he and Helena had resumed their romance, Georgie, who had been given ownership the play by Maurice, forced his hand by closing it. Helena's husband, its producer,
sued her. The real reason for Georgie's actions never got into the press. However, Maurice's many dalliances did make the
tabloids.
He eventually became infected with
syphilis. The
March 25 1905 New York Times reported: "He was playing a
vaudeville engagement at a
Harlem theatre when he suddenly dropped his lines and began to rave. The following day he became violent and was taken to
Bellevue insane ward by his son John." He died in his sleep, and was buried by Ethel at Glenwood Cemetery in
Philadelphia.
*
"Bullets for Barrymore"
